The First ShapeShifter

Until the day came that Amara was no longer Amara. While walking with her friends in the village, a small cat cornered by a vicious dog caught her attention and she went to help it, not saying anything to her friends. Scolding the dog, Amara fearlessly picked up the wounded cat and turned around to face the dog again. Angry and rabid, it leaped at her and sank it's teeth into her ankle. Amara screamed, dropping the cat and, with the intense fear running through her and her instincts overcoming her sense, she shifted form and became a hawk. Quickly she flew away, to the only place she knew to get help - her sister's infirmary. Amara flew inside an open window and began flapping around Giera's head, crying for help in her hawk's voice. Giera was at a loss for what was going on and finally grabbed the hawk, pinning its wings to its sides and searched its eyes. Amara felt a gentle touch on her mind. Her sister's presence calmed her nerves, and once again she shifted, not knowing how she had done it.1

'Amara? What's going on?' Giera demanded.2

'I don't know, Giera! I was trying to help a cat that was cornered by a dog, and then it bit me and . . . and I don't know!' Amara stammered.3

'Amara, calm down. Look at me.' Amara stared up at her sister, wide-eyed. Once she was sure that Amara was calm, she released her hold on the girl. 'Amara, think about a cat, like the one you tried to rescue. Imagine what it looked like.'4

'Why? What are you doing?'5

'Do it.' Amara was silent for a moment.6

'All right, I can see it.'7

'Now want to be that animal. Want to be that cat and see yourself becoming that cat.' there was another long silence. Amara saw the cat, cowering in that alleyway. She blocked out the alley and simply saw the cat, cold and alone. But then her imagination changed it; made it into a calico with bright fur and a strong, healthy body. She tried to tell herself to become the calico but she only felt a slight tingle and then nothing. She looked up at Giera and started to complain.8

'Meow!' Amara started at her voice; she had meowed! Not spoken, meowed - could she really have turned herself into a cat? She quickly told herself to become Amara again and when she spoke her voice was her own.9

'Giera, what happened? What's wrong with me?'10

'You are a shapeshifter, Amara. That's what happened - you got scared and your instincts made you shift your shape to escape from the pain. I helped you shift back by a mind-link, I calmed you enough that you were able to become an elf again.' Giera explained.11

Amara's mind raced - a shapeshifter? Her? Impossible! Shifters were so rare, and not just because of the randomness of their abilities. Coveted by some societies, outcast by most others . . . she had heard of the crimes for being a shapeshifter . . . .12

'But I can't be! I'm an elf, I always have been! I can't be a shifter, Giera, I can't!' Amara said. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked hard to keep them back.13

'I'm sorry, Amara. But it's true. The selection of shifters is random and rare; you weren't one of the lucky ones who avoided it.' Giera shook her head, her gaze downcast for a moment. She looked up at Amara, her eyes very stern and serious. 'Amara, you cannot tell anyone about this. It means your life, sister - if anyone in the village knows, you will both be rejected by our parents and cast out. Maybe even killed. For your own sake, you have to learn to control your shifter nature. I know something about shapeshifters, I can help you a little. After that you are on your own. I'll warn you, though; if the village learns of this, I will no longer claim to be your sister, or else I will be cast out with you. I have too much here for me to lose everything.'14